1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to improvements in a transfer chair that is used to assist persons entering and exiting a bathtub or shower stall. More specifically, the improvements of the present invention involve a transfer bench that is collapsible into a suitcase-sized configuration for easy transportation in vehicles, airplanes and the like while maintaining its durable support when in use.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of devices have been developed to assist persons with the process of safely entering and exiting shower stalls and bathtubs for cleansing and personal hygiene purposes. These devices have been designed to provide not only safe movement in and out of the bathtub or shower but to additionally provide comfort and stability during use. One such line of products is marketed by Invacare Corporation of Elyria, Ohio. The Invacare.RTM. devices provide sturdy and comfortable transfer chairs for both showers and baths. The basic device provides a comfortable transfer over a bathtub wall utilizing an aluminum frame with flared legs for stability. A side arm is provided on one end of the transfer chair for safety and padded seat and back supports provide comfort. The basic device has vertically adjustable legs with suction grips and rubber tips where contact is made with the tub or shower floor.
Much of the focus of earlier designs, as typified by the Invacare.RTM. device described above, has been on the combination of comfort and stability. While the prior art devices are typically capable of disassembly, such disassembly involves the removal of various nuts and bolts and clips that are intended to maintain a semi-permanent structural integrity to the device. In other words, the designs do not lend themselves to rapid and easy collapsibility for transport and the like.
Various efforts have been made to design folding transfer benches and transfer chairs for the purpose of easily removing the device from the bathtub or shower stall or for otherwise storing the device in a flattened configuration. The following patents provide examples of some efforts in the past to create collapsible benches and transfer chairs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,203 issued to Thomas on Mar. 3, 1981, entitled "Folding Transfer Bench" describes a complicated assembly of rails and folding legs that permit the movement of a chair on rollers across the length of the transfer bench. Removable pins secure the longitudinal rails of the device to folding leg supports that are hingedly attached to the longitudinal rails. The legs fold in to reduce the overall height of the device but do not reduce either the height of the seat or the length of the device when collapsed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,791 issued to Thomas on Nov. 23, 1982, entitled "Folding Transfer Bench With Improved Roller and Arm Assembly" describes a device similar to the above-referenced Thomas device with a simplified chair structure that again rolls across longitudinal rails. No improvement is made to the collapsible features associated with the device, other than the simpler removal of the chair from the rail structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,006 issued to Smith on Jul. 5, 1983, entitled "Transfer Bench" describes a bathtub or shower stall bench/chair that, although capable of disassembly, involves a large number of bolts, wing nuts, and other attachment means designed to maintain the rigidity of the structural frame that the bench is based on. While the device collapses into a relatively compact structure, it does so only at the expense of complex attachment mechanisms that are both difficult to assemble and disassemble, and require the storage of a large number of small parts. In addition, the seat structure of the Smith design does not lend itself to a reduction in size for storage or transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,930 issued to Ruggiero on Dec. 3, 1991, entitled "Invalid's Bathtub Seat" describes a design with legs that are intended to fit fully within the bathtub structure and rails that extend partially over the edge of the tub. The complicated seat design permits movement in and out of the tub on a rail and roller construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,892 issued to Mitchell on Feb. 16, 1993, entitled "Tub and Shower Seat" describes a simple collapsible seat that is intended to be permanently mounted within the shower stall or bathtub enclosure. While capable of collapsing into a flat configuration against the wall of the shower stall or bathtub, it sacrifices portability for the sake of stability within the enclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,751 issued to Baker on Mar. 4, 1997, entitled "Shower Chair and Bathtub Transfer Assembly" describes a collapsible structure that forgoes the use of legs in favor of a press fit wall attachment mechanism. While the structure does collapse to reduce the height of the overall device, the length of the rails and support sections do not collapse or come apart.
It would be desirable to have a collapsible shower or tub transfer chair that continued to provide both the stability and comfort of designs developed in the prior art, but additionally provided mechanisms whereby the device could be collapsed, disassembled, or folded into a configuration that could fit within standard suitcase-sized enclosures for the purposes of transport and/or storage. It would be desirable if the process of disassembling the device was simple, straightforward, and required little or no use of attachment mechanisms that could be lost or otherwise misplaced during repeated assembly and disassembly.